How to make a travel journal from printed pages

A travel journal you made yourself fits the trip exactly: the right number of days, the pages you’ll actually fill in, and a size that fits in your bag. Here is a complete build that takes about an hour, including printing and binding.

1. Choose a size

• Passport traveler’s notebook (89 × 124 mm): fits in a jacket pocket. Two copies print on one A4 or Letter sheet.
• Regular traveler’s notebook (110 × 210 mm): room to write and paste tickets, still slim.
• A5 or Half Letter: for sketching, collage and photos.

2. Plan the pages

A good travel journal has three parts:

1. Before: an itinerary page per few days, a packing list, and an expense tracker in the local currency.
2. During: one travel journal page per day, with date, place, weather and a photo box.
3. After: a few memory pages and dot grid for tickets, stamps and sketches.

For a seven-day trip that is about 24 pages, which makes a comfortable single booklet.

3. Build it in the maker

1. Open the maker and choose your size.
2. Add an itinerary page and a packing list.
3. Use Add pages to add seven travel journal pages at once.
4. Add four memory pages and as many dot grid pages as you need to reach a multiple of four.
5. Pick a theme (the Travel theme suits a trip journal) and, if you like, a designed cover.
6. Open the check view to make sure nothing important falls into the margins.

4. Print and bind

Download the booklet PDF and print it double-sided at 100% scale (see the double-sided printing guide). Fold the sheets, nest them and staple or sew along the fold. For a traveler’s notebook, slip the booklet under the elastic cord. Trim the outer edge if your paper was larger than the spread.

5. On the road

• Fill in the daily page each evening, even if it’s only three lines.
• Keep a glue stick or washi tape in the cover pocket for tickets and receipts.
• Write the place name and date on photos you print later, then paste them into the photo boxes.

Ideas for more

• A postcard log if you send cards home.
• A stamp log for passport stamps or post office stamps.
• A reading journal page for the books you read on the trip.